Japanese Audio

robertrs,

A friend of mine thought about Onken cabinets for his Great Plains 604 drivers, but, the Hiraga design and others recommended for this driver are enormous and extremely heavy; he went for a more conventional bass reflex cabinet. 

I personally like Onken cabinets; my speaker has twin 12" woofers in an Onken cabinet.  I got my Western Electric 713b midrange compression drivers from Japan (most of the best vintage American gear is now located in Japan, Korea or Vietnam).  I am a big fan of the same kind of gear prized by the Japanese and I particularly like their old school speakers inspired by US brands, such as the compression drivers and horns that use to be made by Yoshimura Laboratories; they are consistently terrific sounding even though they are made in a crazy array of sizes and configurations.  The current manufacturer G.I.P. Laboratories still turn out terrific Western Electric clones, but the prices are unfortunately crazy high.

I have also liked Japanese electronics from Kondo, Shindo and Zanden.  Many years ago, I bought a pair of Stax Omega II 007 electrostatic headphones (still own and use them with the Amercian-made Blue Hawaii SE headphone amp).  When I took them home, they just did not sound as good as when I heard them at the dealer.  When I asked the deal why that was the case, he pointed out that I auditioned the headphones through a Kondo M 10 linestage and I could never realistically achieve the sound I heard with anything less.

 

Charles , you’re right: Zanden and Reimyo are very good to ! Wavac is somethings special. When I speak about turntables : the best ones I ever heard  ( with my best friend Tom) :Denon dp 100 m and the Kenwood L-07 D :what a sound !!!! And they are 40 years old ! 

@jkeitel
@charles1dad 

good discussion .....the responses seems to be focussed on "how small generally Japanese rooms are" and hence low powered amps and high efficiency speakers ..... this is not entirely correct IMO. 

A true audiophile and related music isn't enjoyed at rock concert volume levels. The fine details and the emotions of the artist and his / her music is never captured at such levels. The Japanese high end units are neither commercial production factories (mass produced) either ....you place an order and often you wait to get it handmade (at least part of it) upto 2 months or more ..... these high end tube amps are made to such  perfection and beauty that these units brings not just the pride of ownership but . They use the best components that employs technology derived not always out of science / engineering but decades of experience -  which invariably produces a sound signature you just fall in love with. 

I've owned several units - starting from the basic run of the mill amps to respected units from musical fidelity / naim / passlabs / firstwatt / luxman / accuphase and have auditioned several others. Currently I own the Takatsuki TAS01. They don't publish its output power - but the musical orgasm you get out of it cannot be explained in words. You just have to experience it. If you have a good DAC, then this unit doesn't even require a preamp - will comfortably drive speakers of 85db and lower in whatever level you want. My neighbour turned up our doorstep seriously angry while along with friends I tested its volume levels. To say 8 or 10w isnt powerful enough is such incorrect representation marketing employed by other SS manufacturers.  

The cultural element is definitely there - plus the technicians and people behind such a units - normally have been in the same industry and brand for decades I mean 30 or even 40 years .... the beautiful lows and sensual midrange and the dynamic highs - you could very enjoy these from a good low powered Japanese tube amp.

  

Japanese audio for me are the 70’s - 80’s (mostly direct drive but also belt drive) tables & 100+ watt amps of the giants of the era (Sony, Denon, Victor etc) or today (Accuphase, TAD etc).

@panchodxb,
You wrote,
A true audiophile and related music isn’t enjoyed at rock concert volume levels. The fine details and the emotions of the artist and his / her music is never captured at such levels

Actually this is how I listen to music (Moderate volume levels) the vast majority of the time, so I understand your point. Certainly this type of approach to music listening coupled with limited domestic space (And other cultural considerations mentioned above) would seem to favor low power amplifiers/efficient speakers. I do acknowledge however that some listeners do prefer louder "cranked up" volumes.

My audio system has been SET amplifier based nearly 12 Yeats and is the best sounding and emotionally engaging I’ve ever had. BTW congratulations on acquiring the Takatsuki TA 501 SET amplifier. I imagine it just sounds fabulous!
Charles